# 民法 / Civil Code — 第五百三十七条 (Article 537) - Law: 民法 (Civil Code), 明治二十九年法律第八十九号 - English title "Civil Code": Ministry of Justice translation - Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 第五百三十七条 (Article 537)（第三者のためにする契約） — address `art-537` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-537 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-537 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ### 第五百三十七条（第三者のためにする契約） — (Third Party Beneficiary Contract) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-537 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-537 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-537 **第一項** 契約により当事者の一方が第三者に対してある給付をすることを約したときは、その第三者は、債務者に対して直接にその給付を請求する権利を有する。 art-537/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-537/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-537/par-1 If one of the parties promises in a contract to render a certain performance to a third party, the third party has the right to claim that performance directly from the obligor. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 前項の契約は、その成立の時に第三者が現に存しない場合又は第三者が特定していない場合であっても、そのためにその効力を妨げられない。 art-537/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-537/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-537/par-2 The validity of the contract referred to in the preceding paragraph is not impaired even if a third party does not exist or a third party is not specified at the time of its formation. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 第一項の場合において、第三者の権利は、その第三者が債務者に対して同項の契約の利益を享受する意思を表示した時に発生する。 art-537/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-537/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-537/par-3 In the case referred to in paragraph (1), rights of the third party accrue when the third party has manifested intention of availing of the benefit of the contract under that paragraph to the obligor. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-537/par-2: 前項 → 民法 第五百三十七条第一項 (Article 537, paragraph (1)), art-537/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-537/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-537/par-1 - art-537/par-3: 第一項 → 民法 第五百三十七条第一項 (Article 537, paragraph (1)), art-537/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-537/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-537/par-1 ## Cited by 6 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第五百三十七条第二項（第三者のためにする契約） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-537/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-537/par-2 - 民法 第五百三十七条第三項（第三者のためにする契約） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-537/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-537/par-3 - 民法 第五百三十八条第一項（第三者の権利の確定） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-538/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-538/par-1 - 民法 第五百三十八条第二項（第三者の権利の確定） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-538/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-538/par-2 - 民法 第五百三十九条第一項（債務者の抗弁） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-539/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-539/par-1 - 民法 附則第三十条第二項（契約の効力に関する経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/suppl-4291-44/art-30/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/suppl-4291-44/art-30/par-2 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 民法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/129AC0000000089/20260624_508AC0000000045), retrieved 2026-10-11 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Civil Code — Ministry of Justice translation (part 1 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4848/tb), retrieved 2026-10-11 - This site's parser, version 190 — 民法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-11